It’s been almost four years since the original DragonFly (v1.0) changed the world’s concept of what a portable USB DAC could achieve. A year and half later, DragonFly rocked the audio world again when they introduced the updated v1.2 at a much lower price point. The sound was simply a little cleaner, a little better controlled,
and more relaxed—unequivocally better.

Now with the release of two new versions, Black and Red they have moved the goalposts again.

The Red version here shuns the analogue style volume control previously used in the V1.2 and curent Black versions as technology has marched on allowing a bit perfect digital attenuator to take its place offering better sound quality with no loss of sublety. This is then married with a freshly designed USB micro-controller that consumes 77% less current allowing compatibility for the first time with Apple and Android devices. This new controller also has a much improved signal to noise ratio allowing AudioQuest's engineers to extract maximum fidelity from the newly integrated 32bit 9016 ESS Sabre DAC chip.

The maximum bitrate has been consciously limited to 24bit/96khz although the chipset can handle greater. This ensures compatibility without the need to download proprietry drivers for example.

The Red version outputs 2.1 volts which is perfect for all amplifier inputs and will power less efficient headphones with ease. Another new feature ensures that the new Dragonfly models can be software updated using a complimentary desktop program on both Windows and Apple platforms.

The Red offers a tighter sound with much greater scale, muscle and grip when compared to the Black and the same volume level.